Forbidden Forest
Alternative title: "Der Wald von Demogargon: Forbidden Forest" -- German title
Platform: Commodore 64
Gametype: Undefined
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This game is one of Paul Norman's first creations. You are in the middle of what is called the Forbidden Forest. You go along in a game shooting various enemy creatures that are in the forest. At the end of the game, you are fighting the mysterious demogorgon, that is in the shape of an owl when nighttime falls. Choose from four different levels of difficulty.

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Description from the packaging:

Arcade Quality - Fast Action
When you first load Forbidden Forest into your 64 you'll be tempted to look around for a slot in which to insert a token or quarter. In a world where excellence seems to have gone out of style, Cosmi has created an arcade-style game that excels in its use of the Commodore 64's superior graphics and sound capabilities.

The forest is astounding. It comes complete with ponds, background and foreground shrubbery and trees. The scrolling graphics equal the kind of three-dimensional effect that the arcade games Mood Patrol and Jungle Hunt create.
The designer of Forbidden Forest is extremely concerned with attention to detail. As if the ponds and trees were not enough, he also programmed the sky to darken after a while to create the ambience of a forest at night. Added to his dark sky are twinkling stars and a man in the moon that sets and rises as the real moon does.

The player is represented by an archer trying to work his way through the forest. He's equipped with a bow and forty arrows, and must fight his way through a long list of enemies: groups of spiders, bees, hundreds of bears that fall from the sky, a dangerous dragon, many skeletons (you can shoot these, but they won't die because they are already dead), and angel of death and, finally, the sky master (monster). In keeping with the quality of the forest graphics, each of these characters is exquisitely detailed.

The gameplay is simple to learn. An arrow must first be drawn by pushing the fire button once. To shoot it, you aim the bow with the joystick and press the fire button again. Many times you will be forced to run like crazy to avoid becoming a tasty meal. If you do become spider dinner, you'll be treated to the sight of yourself being eaten raw- complete with blood.

Forbidden Forest also has a fabulous eerie musical score that plays throughout the game- the best example to date of the quality sound that the Commodore 64 can produce. After each group of enemies is annihilated, the music changes and the archer does a victory dance in the middle of the screen. After the dance, the game action resumes with an even meaner set of adversaries. In short, Forbidden Forest is just about the best looking, sounding and playing computer game I've seen in months. Bravo, Cosmi!

Robert Alonso, Electronic Fun with Computers and Games Magazine
Full Color Graphics & Sounds.
Four Skill Levels.
